Baker takes familiar stance on Amazon flurry
Boston legislators and city councilors huddled Thursday morning in the House Members’ Lounge, a richly appointed room at the State House, for a closed-door briefing on the city’s proposal to lure Amazon to East Boston.
The local politicians were impressed with the bid — but they’re not wholly pleased that Governor Charlie Baker has not given it his undivided support. He’s not playing favorites.
“It’s certainly disappointing for the Boston bid to not have his full endorsement and the full strength and capacity of his office behind it,’’ said Boston City Councilor-at-large Annissa Essaibi-George, who attended the meeting. “But, that being said, I think Boston is more than capable of standing on its own two feet.’’
With 26 Massachusetts sites competing for Amazon’s new headquarters, Baker’s frequently cautious stance on thorny issues — especially those pitting the desires of one Massachusetts community against others — is again on display.
US Representative Stephen F. Lynch, who attended the State House meeting, noted that Baker has a broad constituency to satisfy.
“[House] Speaker [Robert] DeLeo has his favorites, and Senate President [Stanley] Rosenberg has his favorites,’’ said Lynch, a South Boston Democrat. “He’s got to work with those folks. He’s letting the process play itself out, and I think that’s smart for him.’’
The governor was notably hands-off on Boston’s effort two years ago to secure the 2024 Summer Olympics, a plan that deeply divided the city. During General Electric’s overtures toward relocating to Massachusetts, Baker assigned economic development officials to squire GE representatives around different parts of the state before the firm settled on Boston.
Similarly, when the Pawtucket Red Sox signaled interest in relocating, the administration did not publicly endorse any one municipality’s proposal over another. Worcester has made a strong push for the team, while Springfield and other Massachusetts cities have also been mentioned as potential candidates.
Baker waited until three days before the state’s presidential primary last year before endorsing a candidate, in a brief, one-event rollout — long after polls showed that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Baker’s choice, was a distant long shot.
The governor’s come-what-may position toward Amazon quietly created friction with Boston city officials, who wanted the state to go all-in for a bid for the capital. But, publicly, both sides have downplayed any rift, not wanting to spook Amazon with the spectacle of discord between the city and state governments.
“We saw it with the Olympics and IndyCar,’’ said Larry Moulter, the executive-in-residence at the University of Massachusetts Boston Center for Collaborative Leadership who led the 1990s redevelopment of the Boston Garden, referring to Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s effort to land a race-car event for the city. “Big ideas sometimes frighten people, and we shouldn’t be afraid of big ideas.’’
While state officials worked with IndyCar officials during the planning process, Baker let Walsh take the lead and serve as the public face.
Moulter nonetheless praised Baker’s tack, saying, “I think the governor is the governor of the state, and there are a lot of competing interests in the state, and he laid out a compelling case from what I’ve seen. . . . He’s walked the path, and he’s skated his lane.’’
Indeed, outside Boston, Baker’s openness to a broad geographic range has won plaudits.
“The governor’s policy to allow municipalities to compete for Amazon is a sound one because we’ve seen too often over the years the thumb put on the scale for Boston by powerful interests in government, business, and media, at the expense of the rest of the state,’’ said Timothy P. Murray, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, a Democrat who ran against Baker’s ticket in 2010.
The e-commerce giant said last month it would open a type of municipal sweepstakes for a second headquarters, after growing too large for its Seattle flagship. Cities and towns needed to submit bids by Thursday, for a prize expected to include up to 50,000 jobs over the next decade and a half and an estimated 8 million square feet in occupied space.
The company is expected to winnow the list to a group of finalists and make a decision next year.
Many in Boston are leery of a huge influx of Amazon workers, noting the dramatic changes that landing the company could yield.
“We’re talking about a huge potential change for the city, not just in terms of how we would handle that much additional infrastructure, our streets, our transportation system, but also what it would mean to have that many people from one company come into our city,’’ said Boston City Council President Michelle Wu, a Roslindale Democrat, who did not sign a letter backing the city’s proposal. “I think we need a lot more detail now what type of relationship and civic participant Amazon would be.’’
Other states have presented Amazon with a more targeted approach. Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and Democratic Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel united to propose 10 sites in and around the city for Amazon to build its second headquarters, including two in the suburbs.
In New Jersey, Christie picked a Newark bid over other Jersey-based efforts.
Rhode Island this week rolled out a seven-venue bid. Regional economic development groups in Denver and Southern California have spearheaded their own bids.
Administration officials called their statewide strategy — getting behind more than two dozen sites in all — prudent.
“Why 26? There’s a very easy explanation to that,’’ said the state’s housing and economic development chief, Jay Ash. “We wanted to show Amazon a variety of opportunities.’’
Ash said the bidding process itself had been productive, helping communities identify strengths and weaknesses in their economic development portfolios.
“Cities and towns outside of Boston, this is the first time that they’ve really competed in a national or international opportunity,’’ he said.
While elected officials met Thursday on Beacon Hill, some two dozen East Boston civic leaders and activists had already been summoned to Walsh’s office to drum up support for the Eastie proposal.
But Essaibi George came out of her meeting at the State House convinced that if that bid doesn’t work out, the city wants to stay in the game.
“There is room for more conversation, is the message that’s been sent to Amazon,’’ she said.
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